The Separation of the Beloved
by Lord Montymort
Summary: We follow Pantalaimon and his new companion after they have been left by Lyra and Will as they enter the World of the Dead. Through the eyes of Pan.
1. The Leaving

Pantalaimon took the form of a small puppy as Lyra hopped into the dingy boat with Will, Lady Salmakia and Lord Tialys the Gallivespians, and the wretched old man who was almost an extension of the boat itself, and who had told Lyra she could not take her daemon in to the Land of the Dead.  
  
He meant not to look so helpless and beaten, he wanted to help Lyra and soothe her and stop her sobbing, but Pan felt like nothing but this sad, beaten creature, having to part with his dear Lyra.  
  
Lyra's sobs shook her small frame, so slender due to her incredible journey. She sat down on to the damp seat, never looking away or breaking the gaze she held with her dear Pan. He stared back, as though they would be able to forever gaze at one another forever, even if it would not be so.  
  
As the boatman moved the boat over the ugly, grey mass of water, Pan trotted up to the very end of the jetty to keep as close to Lyra as long as he possibly could. His dog-form strengthened as he stared into Lyra's eyes, as much pain as this seperation would cause, he somehow felt it would soon be over and the would be reunited.  
  
They stared until they faded away in the fog, both grimacing against the explosive pain within themselves, and soon Lyra was out of sight. He heard her sob so passionately, but soon he could hear them no more and could hear nothing but the soft lapping of water against the rocky shore.  
  
Pan sat down and rested his little head on to his paws. He continued to gaze where he could last remember seeing Lyra's pain-filled face so wet with tears, feeling an immense sadness yet the strongest sense of pure love that he could ever remember for his Lyra. He would remain a faithful dog and this thought almost cheered him. He would wait here patiently until she returned and was in her arms again and knew more then anything that this would be so. Lyra could not live without her Pan, as her company could not live without their daemon's, which remained with Pantalaimon on the jetty. 


	2. Their First Greeting

Pantalaimon sighed heavilly, Lyra had been gone for over an hour and he was unsure of he should do next. At first he had thought of staying on this old, rotting jetty until Lyra returned, but he was now doubtful. Somthing that made no sense, in the back of his thoughts told Pan that here would not be where he would be reunited with Lyra.  
  
Pan's little chest ached with a pain that was both physical and emotional, deep within him, and was so fierce he wondered how he was still alive. Pan remembered Lyra's wailing, her sobs and the endless tears and knew that she would be feeling the same sort of pain. But as he was still living and would was not in any danger of dying from this, Pan's thoughts began to wander. He was not meant to stay where he was, he was meant to go elsewhere in order to find Lyra again, but he was only a daemon without a single form, and didn't know what to do about this nor what to think.  
  
There was a strange fluttering some meters up from Pan on the jetty which Pan sensed as being alive. At first he wondered if it was Dust, as he had so often heard that it was conscious, but he knew it was more then that. It might possibly be Dust forming into something, and suddenly Pan found himself wondering what form Will's daemon was and if this was her.  
  
The image flickered and Pan had to blink his little eyes in order to makle any sense of this thing. Foe a moment he thought he saw something, but it faded as quickly as it had appeared. But within minutes it had taken on a stranger form and with an almost inaudible popping and whoshing sound another small dog, almost exactly like Pan appeared, it's sorrowful eyes mirroring Pan's own.  
  
She was also in a great deal of pain, and was deeply sad and could only just whisper, "We'd never trully met and then he left me. My Will went away and left me!"  
  
Pan whimpered with sympathy and slowly approached Will's newly formed daemon, his head low. He understood her pain, and he was also feeling abandoned soehow, even though he struggled as hard as he could to beleive Lyra had done the right thing.  
  
Her eyes glistened and she made the first connecting with Pan, by rubbing her cheek against his. She raised her head again to look deeply and sadly into Pan's eyes, which she shared as she knew of no ther form to take.  
  
Now Pantalaimon would not be alone. 


End file.
